VIENNA, 14 June 2006 — China and Russia refused yesterday to join with other big powers in threatening sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program during diplomatic jostling at the UN nuclear watchdog. In a further blow to US efforts to present a united front at the International Atomic Energy Agency talks, nonaligned nations prepared a statement reaffirming Tehran’s right to enrich uranium.
Diplomats played down the significance of the cracks, however, saying IAEA members would try not to hinder an international offer to Iran of benefits if it reins in its nuclear ambitions. “Everybody feels they want this package (of benefits) to have every possible chance of success,” a Western diplomat told AFP. China and Russia — both Iranian allies and trading partners — had joined Britain, France, Germany and the United States on June 1 in urging Iran to halt enrichment and join talks guaranteeing it will not make nuclear arms.
The offer threatened UN Security Council action, including sanctions, if Iran failed to comply. A second Western diplomat said the United States had been seeking a new statement in Vienna from the six world powers setting out both possible benefits and sanctions for Iran. But Russia and China were reluctant to sign up. Russia and China “didn’t want a reference to sanctions or punitive actions,” the diplomat said.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed Iran with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing by telephone, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said in Beijing. “China will continue to play a constructive role to help peacefully solve the Iran nuclear issue through negotiations,” the Chinese spokesman said on the ministry’s Internet site.
A senior European diplomat said the failure to agree on a joint statement at the IAEA board here was no surprise. The six world powers had never managed to get a united statement on the matter at the IAEA, which oversees cooperation by nations with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the European diplomat said. A vigorous debate on Iran but no resolution is expected at this week’s meeting in Vienna of the IAEA’s 35-nation board of governors, with the Iranian issue due to come up officially Thursday or Friday.
